Shelf Stable Tamales & Pupusas Direct From El Salvador?

I don't know about this whole idea, but I figured someone might be feeling adventurous enough to try these shelf stable Tamales & Pupusas. They are shipped directly from El Salvador to your door and require no refrigeration, or added preservatives. How is this even possible? The miracle of retort pouches - and a little encouragement from who the plant workers in El Salvador like to call "diablo blanco". Allegedly.

Retort pouches use the same technology that has been used in MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) by the military for decades.  As the technology has matured you now see this technology used with various items food from fish and meat to rice and beans. The process combines heat and pressure along with a special multilayer packaging to create a product that is commercially sterile and can be safely kept at room temperature for extended periods of time.

Need to eat in a hurry (because your SO busy)? All you need to do is tear the pouch open halfway at one end and place it in the microwave on high for approximately 90 seconds.  Its like magic-o! I'm sorry that was probably racist. Es como magia! (thanks Google translate)

The pic looks O.K. but I suppose only the taste will really tell us how good these actually are. If you are feeling up to it - check out the Comali Foods website and taste the products for yourself and make sure to let me know how it works out. In the meantime I might stick to making them at home, where I can drink the water.

Chipotle - $2.00 Halloween Special

I love Halloween. I love getting great food at a great price, too - so it is only natural that when the two are combined I am going to get pretty excited! There is currently a promotion up at Chipotle website describing this years Halloween "Dress Up" special - check it out! God, I love this stuff...

Chipotle has a long-standing tradition of rewarding customers who dress up as their favorite menu item on Halloween. This year, they are doing things differently and putting the focus on ‘The Horrors of Processed Food.’ So dress up as the scariest, most processed food you can imagine and visit any Chipotle on Halloween night from 6 pm to close for a $2.00 burrito treat!

An increasingly large amount of the foods Americans eat are heavily processed — meaning that they have been modified from their natural form through the use of chemicals and advanced manufacturing techniques (if you find that unappetizing, that’s a good sign). These foods include many lunch meats, hot dogs, most fast food nuggets, canned pastas, cheese spreads, frozen pizzas, frozen dinners and many, many more. When foods are heavily processed, many of the vital nutrients are removed or destroyed, leaving little left to nourish the body. In their place, a selection of more than 5,000 additives—like artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners—are used to make food cheaper and longer lasting and to ensure consistency. But even though these foods sometimes look and taste good, eating them can take a toll on your body. Many heavily processed foods fail to provide key nutrients that are important to overall nutrition and, along with excessive portion sizes, are often related to the increased incidence of obesity and diabetes in America.

Processed foods are often marketed as being fast, convenient and inexpensive. But food that is fast and convenient does not need to be heavily processed. Take, for example, the food served at Chipotle. Seventeen years ago, Chipotle founder Steve Ells set out to prove that food served fast can actually be cooked from wholesome, real ingredients and still be convenient and reasonably priced. Steve started by selecting the finest raw ingredients and preparing them by hand, using classical cooking techniques. It was real, slow-cooked food served fast. Now, with more than 1,000 restaurants, Steve's vision has become known as “Food with Integrity” and it is changing the way people think about and eat fast food. Just because food is served fast doesn’t mean it has to be highly processed and full of additives. It can be healthful, not horrifying.

Victoria’s Secret: Secret Garden Collection

      My best girlfriend and I went to the mall this past weekend to do some shopping together.  Since my friend was leaving for a short mini vacation in early October, she wanted to shop for new clothes since most of her clothes do not fit anymore after giving birth early this year. As we reached the shopping mall parking lot, my friend and I made a stop to all the stores she wanted to shop at. I remembered I was in need for some bath and body products.

     Victoria’s Secret came to my mind instantly. I knew Victoria’s Secret is most famous for their yearly semi-annual sale every year and had rocking good deals on many lingerie and intimate apparel. After having dinner at a burger diner at the mall, my friend and I stopped by Victoria’s Secret. We were first approached by a beautiful sales associate who asked us if we needed any help with anything. I politely answered that we were just looking around. I instantly went to the “Secret Garden Collection,” and they had a fabulous sale on the bath and body products for 3/$24 or 5/$30 sale! Score! This was an amazing deal I was not going to pass on.

     The “Secret Garden Collection,” consists of many beautiful, exotic scents. Here are some lists of many of their famous ones.

-Love Spell (my absolute favorite): Rich blend of peach, cherry blossom and white jasmine. Nourishing aloe, oat and grape seed extracts, with antioxidant vitamins C and E.

-Pure Seduction: Blend of casaba melon, plum and freesia.

-Amber Romance: Blend of black cherry, crème anglaise, vanilla and sandalwood.

-Secret Charm: Blend of honeysuckle, gala apples and stephanotis.

-Lost in Fantasy (new favorite): Fruity, floral mix of sweet passion fruit, wild Brazilian orchid and warm musk.

-Luscious Kisses: Blend of Valencia orange, coconut and tonka bean.

-Coconut Passion: Blend of vanilla, coconut and lily of the valley.

-Berry Kiss: Blend of wild raspberry, rose and praline.

-Vanilla Lace: Blend of vanilla, orchid, amber and musk.

-Endless Love: Blend of apple blossom, honeydew and ylang ylang.

-Pear Glace: Blend of pear nectar, cassis and violet.

-Strawberries and Champagne: Blend of strawberry, champagne and cassis.

     The sale goes on now at Victoria’s Secret for these fabulous, beautiful scents! I discovered these beautiful scented products about 2 years ago and I must say I’ve been in love with them ever since. Whenever I get the break to head to the nearest mall, I always come into Victoria’s Secret for these fabulous deals.

Northwest Life: The Blue Tarp

Before I actually moved to the Pacific Northwest, and more specifically, the coastal shores of Washington, I heard dire warnings about the rain. It rained "all the time," the weather caused hordes of depressed North westerners to march, lemming-like, into the sea in search of warmer climes, and it was a moist, cold, damp, gray and miserable clime.

None of this proved true. Yes, it does rain a lot here, and there's mist, and fog, but the weather is at least as changeable as my native New England, and generally, much milder. So while it might rain in the morning (or late at night), there's a good chance of clear skies and sun by the afternoon. Yes, you will grow moss on your rag-top jeep, and on your driveway, and if you stand still long enough, you two could become a symbiote, but that's a bonus, not a bug. I admit that when we went shopping just before Labor Day weekend all the stores had stacks of blue tarps right beside the charcoal and the lighter fluid, and yes, it did rain this Labor Day and the one before that, and I'm told that it has rained on Labor Day since time immemorial, but really, who doesn't want a little blue tarp with their barbecue?

I explain all this so that you can properly appreciate this perfectly targeted commercial from Northwest insurance company Pemco.

Stir Fry Sauce by “Kikkoman”

 

           I came over to my best girlfriend’s house one evening for dinner and to spend some quality time with her. My friend informed me that her father’s girlfriend was going to be the cook tonight and was preparing something oh-so-yummy! We did some grocery shopping before they came home from work that evening at the local QFC store near her house. As we approached the store, I notice my girlfriend was picking up her usual mommy stuff like diapers, and then she picked out red pepper, chicken breasts, and of course, the stir fry sauce by Kikkoman. I have eaten many stir fry dishes before, but have never heard of Kikkoman stir fry sauce.

            As my friend and I exited the grocery store, we walked back to her place. I helped her put away the groceries in the kitchen and we both waited for her father and his girlfriend to arrive shortly. To pass time, I decided to head upstairs to my friend’s bedroom to listen to my personal tape session I had with my psychic reader. My friend came upstairs to fetch me and I followed downstairs. I saw her father’s girlfriend put in the chicken breast slices into the pan along with the nicely cut vegetables. Then she poured the Kikkoman stir fry sauce.

            I did research on this special yummy Kikkoman stir fry sauce and it revealed some delicious ingredients. This sauce is pre-seasoned and pre-thickened used for meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetable stir-frys. It is a blend of Kikkoman soy sauce, sherry, garlic, oyster sauce and some Asian seasonings. It’s amongst many people’s favorite stir fry sauce to add to Chinese fried rice, chow mein, or some American classics such as meatloaf and stew.

            As the chicken and vegetable stir fry was still being cooked in the kitchen, we set up the table out in the living room. The stir fry dinner came out to the table by my friend’s father. We waited for everyone to be sat down at the table and started to eat. I must say that having stir fry dinner at my friend’s house for the first time was an amazing dinner experience. Not only was it yummy, but delicious and healthy. Everyone around the dinner table was pleased. Even my friend’s father commented on how good the stir fry was to his girlfriend. As everyone was almost done eating, I helped cleared the table into the kitchen sink and thanked her father’s girlfriend for a fabulous dinner that evening.

         When I left my friend’s house that night, the Kikkoman stir fry sauce was stuck in my head till I got home to my driveway. A couple days later, I text messaged my friend on the name of the sauce. For everyone out there who loves stir fry, try this Kikkoman stir fry sauce!

 

Eating For The Seasons: Fall

I was utterly charmed to learn that Chinese traditional medicine has dietary suggestions for each season. It takes the Western truisms like "salad in summer" and "soup in winter" to a whole new level. 

Unlike Western "neutraceutical" practices, Chinese traditional medicine does not advocate taking a whole lot of any given thing, or taking it for very long.  Each food has an ideal season when it should be eaten, but even so, you should never eat too much of it. 

According to traditional Chinese medicine, fall is the season when the chi begins to drop, and the yin (feminine) energy rises in preparation for winter.  This is the season that is ruled by the lungs and colon.  As a result, people are likely to suffer from constipation and grief. 

Grief?  That's right: your lungs are said to be the repository of grief.  As fall deepens into winter, your body has to experience a "letting go."  This release of grief from the lungs causes sadness, and sometimes a dry cough.

(I never claimed to understand traditional Chinese medicine.  It sure is interesting, though!)

To ground yourself with the seasons and build up your energy for winter, eat root vegetables and tubers like carrots, turnips, and beets.  Gourds like squash and pumpkin are also recommended, as are seeds (including sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds). 

To counteract fall's tendency to be cool and dry, choose foods which are sour.  Lemon juice, apples, grapefruit, pickles, pears, sauerkraut, borscht, and pineapple are all included on this list.  The sourness… I don't know, it's something about the spleen.  Just go with it.

Soups, porridges, and teas are all excellent additions to your fall menu.  These warm fluids help your body retain moisture which is sapped by the cool, dry, often windy weather. 

The skeptic observer might note that Chinese food medicine is all about eating fresh, seasonal, local ingredients, and avoiding foods that are fatty, fried, or sugary.  Such a skeptic might also point out that by rotating food theories in each season, one is more likely to get a broad spectrum of nutrition. 

Frankly, none of this is any wackier than Western beliefs in the miraculous power of turkey to make you sleepy (a myth), or in faddish cure-alls like pomegranate, cutting out all carbs, or lemon maple syrup "cleanse" diets.

Some ideas for fall recipes using ingredients recommended by traditional Chinese medicine:


* A seasonal fungus recommendation is the white fungus (tremella) which goes by a number of different names.  I found a recipe for white fungus soup that looks absolutely delicious! 

* Green tea with lemon is a great cure for cold damp weather.  I made a pot of green tea with lemon this afternoon, and it totally worked!  (Really, is there anything better on a cold, wet day?)

* A delicious fall salad garnished with chunks of apple and sunflower seeds, and dressed with a raspberry or grapefruit vinaigrette. 

* Pumpkin or butternut squash soup; garnish each bowl with a generous dollop of sour cream or tart unsweetened yogurt, plus a sprinkle of toasted pumpkin seeds.

* Fall fruit salad with apples, pears, pineapple, grapefruit, and a dash of lemon juice.

Photo credit: Flickr/sassyradish

Challah Recipe

Challah is the traditional ritual bread of the Jewish people. Its recipe dates back as far as the Jewish exile in Babylon and possibly earlier. In addition to being a very tasty, unique food, challah is a deeply symbolic item. Its ingredients are rich and luxurious, certainly too costly to be used for everyday bread. Challah is the bread of the sabbath, an aesthetically pleasing sacrament that is not only the beginning of the shabbat meal, it is also a confluence of symbols.

To make a loaf of challah from scratch, first combine the following wet ingredients.

  • 1 cup of warm water
  • 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast, sprinkled over the water
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1/2 cup of honey
  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1.5 teaspoon of salt

After all of these ingredients are completely combined, add four cups of all-purpose flour to the mixture, one cup at a time. Make sure each cup of flour is fully incorporated before adding the next cup. Beat the mixture until it is smooth and no longer sticky. You may need to add a few more pinches of flour while mixing. Next, cover the dough with a damp cloth for at least an hour while it expands. When it has reached approximately double its size, divide the dough into three, inch-thick "snakes" then pinch one end of each together and braid the pieces together into a loaf. Place the loaf in a warm place under a damp cloth and let it rise for an hour. Then, brush the loaf with one beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Place the loaf in an oven preheated to 375 degrees and bake for 40-45 minutes. The challah should come out with a golden brown crust and make a hollow sound when you tap the bottom. Let it cool for an hour, then slice. The bread should have a slight yellow tint and a sweet, mildly cakey flavor.

As you can see, challah is an unusual bread. Most breads don't use so much (or any) egg and honey, nor are most breads braided. What is the meaning of these strange things? As previously noted, challah is a luxurious ritual bread. It is meant to have rich, flavorful ingredients. Milk and honey are famously the two descriptors of the Promised Land in the Torah. They are symbols of prosperity and joy. Milk is an indication of plentiful livestock, which for a pastoral people like the Hebrews were the main sources of wealth. Honey was a rare delicacy that was difficult to harvest. Having both of those things in the bread makes it a symbol of material comfort.

The egg is a symbol of fertility in practically every culture on Earth. Eggs are prominent ingredients in challah, indicating the value of family in Jewish philosophy. Poppy seeds, which aren't present in all challah recipes, refer to the highest luxuries of the ancient Near and Middle East. Poppy flowers were associated with grand kingdoms like Persia and Lebanon. As for why challah is braided, that was a later addition in the Ashkenazi tradition. The braid is a symbol of plurality, referring both to the strength of community and the many aspects of creation. Braided bread, just like braided candles and braided hair, symbolize the unity of the Jewish people.

Challah is a delicious, unique bread and one of Jewish culture's great contributions to the kitchen. Making it at home is easy and it pairs well with other Jewish favorites like chicken soup and red wine, as well as butter, jam or even as a base for French Toast. Sweet, dense and beautiful, challah is the food of Jewish ritual.

Chunky Bar

The Chunky bar is one of the few candy bars that remains unchanged from my childhood in the late 70s and early 80s.  This is what you bought when you wanted a great value, the most bang for your buck.  (Or, back then, for your quarter.)

In hindsight, this was a pretty silly belief.  And yet it was a common one.  Perhaps if we had read the label and seen the weight (1.4 ounces) we would have realized that it was actually smaller than most other candy bars.  A Snickers bar for example is 2 ounces.  Even a plain Hershey bar is bigger, clocking in at 1.5 ounces.

Nevertheless, the Chunky bar manages to feel far more substantial.  Its tall, "ice cube tray" shape gives it a lot of heft for the footprint.  It's like the opposite effect from restaurants that serve drinks in glasses that are very tall and thin. 

The Chunky bar also has the distinction of being one of the few (perhaps only) candy bars ever mentioned on Family Guy.  In the episode "Boys Do Cry," Stewie riffs on Chunky bars at the convenience store.  "Yeah, that's what kids want in their candy. Fruit. Why don't you put sunflower seeds in the Ding Dongs while you're at it?"

It's true that the raisins are, shall we say, not a standard part of childhood candy fare.  I'm cautiously in favor of raisins, when they work properly.  For example, I like Cadbury's Fruit and Nut bar, which has raisins in it.  Although I think they might be using raisin chunks, which have a far smaller profile.

One positive aspect to using raisins is that they flavor the Chunky bar in an interesting way.  Perhaps because of its compact shape, the chocolate seems to take on a lot of the raisin-y taste, which gives it a hint of flavor almost like rum.  (Or, I suppose more to the point, like rum raisin ice cream.)

All I can say is that as an adult, the chocolate of the Chunky bar is pretty good, but the nuts and raisins are a little awful.  They lend a nice taste to the thing, but at the expense of leaving weird skins behind.  Each bite had me sucking at my teeth for several minutes afterward. 

At one point I actually had to bust out the dental floss in order to dislodge a particularly stubborn bit of raisin skin.  And one peanut skin got stuck to the back of a molar in a way that I worried might drive me clinically insane until I actually managed to get it out of there.

Despite its relatively minor appeal as a candy bar, this is one that I always see near the register at gas stations and convenience stores.  Clearly someone must be buying them, and quite a lot of them too.  The Chunky bar must be one of the ultimate impulse purchases, right up there with Ses-Me Snacks, 5 Hour Energy drinks, packets of herbal "masculine supplements," and disposable lighters.

Tortilla Soup

 

I had “Tortill a Flat”  by John Steinbeck on the brain; corn tortillas, and chicken thighs in my freezer; and put two and twenty-seven together, looked into a trusty cookbook, and decided to attempt “Tortilla Soup” , which is not always my favorite menu item.

Once again, I lacked all of the ingredients (apparently my kitchen is not as well-stocked as it should be), so put on my shoes, hobbled my way to the store, and bought some mozzarella (the good kind) and some veggies. On the way, I passed the neighborhood residential crazy with the signs warning against demons on the phones, three bars, and a modeling agency which is always empty.

When I got back home, I started the prep work for the Tortilla Soup. Within thirteen seconds of my arrival, the kitchen was an absolute disaster- I had three cutting boards out, four knives, and both the oven and the stove on. Because I was wearing my brightly-colored apron, I felt confident that I could ward off anything bad that might happen as I cooked- for the most part, I was right.

I sliced the tortillas into strips and used a spoon to spread Canola oil over them; then, I baked the Canola-covered tortilla strips in the oven for about twenty minutes. While the tortilla strips were baking, I boiled and simmered the chicken, chicken broth, water, and jalapeno pepper together in a large pot (or what I have recently learned is also called a dutch oven). While the ingredients in the pot were simmering, I cut up green peppers and attempted to grate the mozzarella- it was too soft, so it didn’t work out quite right- and then I waited for the chicken to cook through completely. This step took much longer than the recipe called for- maybe my chickens just happened to have thicker thighs- whatever the case, I had to check and re-check to insure that the chicken was cooked thoroughly enough so I could shred it with a fork without scaring myself with red chicken veins.

I put the soup into bowls and put the cheese, the peppers, the tortillas, and some lemon into the bowl as fresh ingredients or what the foodies and most of the population (who are much more in the know that I am) refer to as garnish. (I had always believed that garnishes were not really that tasty, but in this case, they added quite a lot to the mix.)

As always, I am sure you are curious about the verdict on this one- it was pretty good. I think that my Tortilla Soup could have benefited from more than one jalapeno or even a spicier pepper, but other than that, I was a little impressed with myself, which doesn’t happen all that often in the kitchen.

Making The Most of Chicken Breast

One of the most absurd and unfortunate trends in cuisine is the boneless, skinless chicken breast. More specifically, the pre-packaged version thereof. People are willing to pay as much as three times the amount for a boneless, skinless breast when there's so much potential in unadulterated chicken. All it takes is a little extra work and some old-world knowledge to turn your bone-in, skin-on chicken breast into several tasty, heart-healthy meals.

The most difficult part of handling bone-in chicken breast is separating the meat from the bones. This is a fragile part of the bird and it's not as simple as carving chunks out like one would with legs, thighs or even wings. You'll need a sharp knife, preferably a boning knife, and a clean cutting board. Place the breast skin side down. You should notice the rib bones right away. These are small and fragile, so make sure not to bend or pull too hard to avoid breaking them into smaller pieces. Make a shallow incision just under the ribs and then continue along the ridge of the breast bone until you have freed the largest section of meat.

At this point, you can either cook the meat with the skin on or carefully remove the excess skin and fat from the breast. This is where a lot of people waste their chicken. Those bones, skin and fat are packed with flavor and are plenty useful. There's also likely still a fair amount of meat left on those bones, just not enough to separate and cook. Don't throw out any part of the chicken you aren't cooking with the breast. Instead, make soup.

Chicken soup is easy, healthy and delicious. The fat you're trying to avoid by removing it from the breast will be more or less negligible when distributed through so much water and so many vegetables in a soup. Set your chicken pieces aside and chop one cup carrots, one cup celery, one half onion and two to three cloves of garlic. Throw everything in a large pot and fill with water until everything just barely floats. You can season with salt, pepper, herbs and spices as you see fit. Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat so the soup is on a low, steady boil. Leave the pot to mix its flavors for 1.5 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally to keep bits from settling on the bottom and burning. Taste test to make sure it's done and then carefully remove the chicken bones and skin. Done right, they will have relinquished their flavor and nutrients to the soup. You can also strain the entire mixture and keep the broth for use in a variety of dishes and sauces.

There's no reason to be scared of chicken breast complete with bones and skin. Sticking with the mostly unprocessed product will save you money, give you more flavorful food and open up your cooking options.

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